All is Fair
by hiimian
Summary: Danny had hoped his relationship with his parents would rebuild and become something wonderful after the Disasteroid. Unfortunately, tensions run high. The situation balloons into all-out battle between the professional ghost hunters and Team Phantom where no one will escape unscathed. Oneshot, rated K-plus for language and some mild imagery.


Hello once again! When I came up with this idea, I had been thinking about what if things _hadn't_ gone smoothly after Danny revealed his identity in Phantom Planet? What if the Fenton parents' emotions were more complex beyond simply feeling guilt or scientific interest? What if tensions ballooned until peace could no longer be kept between the professional ghost hunters and Team Phantom, and all-out battle resulted?

Thus, a skill contest of such intensity that no one can come out unscathed.

I **highly** recommend you have either of these mixes playing while reading the story as (1) background music helps give you the right vibe, and (2) this is the music I listened to while writing, so again, it helps with the vibe:

\- Youtube com forward slash then watch?v=UziT65FfUTk "Hardwell Mix 2018" for a faster pace (first choice)

\- YouTube com forward slash then watch?v=FIVp1Da-vqA&feature= "Black Tiger Sex Machine - New Worlds (Full Album)" for a more intense feel with still a good pace/drive. (more of a post-apocalyptic feel)

Enjoy!

* * *

General notes:

"This is speech."

 _"This is speech over comms devices."_

 _'This is thought.'_

 _This_ , THIS, and *this* are emphasis.

I do not own _Danny Phantom._ (Well, I DO, but it's just the episodes on iTunes... I don't own the RIGHTS to _Danny Phantom._ )

Originally published: Friday, March 16, 2018

* * *

 **ALL IS FAIR**

* * *

"GET BACK HERE, DANNY!"

"NOT ON YOUR LIFE!"

Danny dove behind a crumbling wall for refuge from the seemingly never-ending battle. His parents were closing in on his location amongst the deserted ruins of a city center.

"Stop hiding, you coward!" his mother's voice demanded from across the street. "Come out and fight like the *hero* you are!"

Danny went invisible and floated up to peak over the wall and surveil his surroundings. He quickly found his mother crouched next to a burnt-out car, but her goggled eyes locked onto his invisible form. Danny ducked milliseconds before a shot blasted through where his head had just been.

"How did you spot me?!"

"Come on, Danny, you know I never go anywhere without my infrared goggles!" she cooed. "Looks like the odds are even now, _Inviso-Bill!_ "

"They are not!" he shouted back from his cover and brushed some rubble and dust from his white hair. "You guys have been using weapons for decades-GAH!"

His father, never the tactical one, had surprisingly taken advantage of the banter to sneak behind his son and get in a shot. Green now bled over Danny's side. The boy quickly phased through the wall and made a break for new cover.

"That's right, you better run, Phantom!" his father shouted. "One hit goes to Team Professional Ghost Hunters!"

"That was low!" the boy complained as he somersaulted through a shop window in the golden light of early evening.

"That'll teach you to monologue and give away your location!" his mother lectured.

"Ah, so that's how this is then, eh? 'All is fair in love and war?' "

"You know it!" his mother shouted. "And this is _war!_ "

"Fine," Danny retorted resolutely, mostly to himself. He began running intangibly through a few adjoining shops and tapped the device in his ear. "Sam, what's your 20?"

 _"_ _Town Hall,"_ she replied over their Fenton Phones connection.

"Okay. I'm making my way to you."

 _"_ _Any word from Tucker?"_

"No, I haven't seen him since he took a shot from Valerie when this began."

The savior of the world checked himself over, frowned at the green marring his iconic logo and transformed back into his human form. He had hoped that staying a ghost would give him an edge, but clearly not.

"He's gone human! He's off my sensors!" he heard Maddie shout to Jack.

"Never fear, my dear! I brought the Boo-merang just in case!"

Danny glared at this new information. Out of all his parents' dangerous weaponry and complicated inventions, the Boo-merang was definitely his second-least-favorite, only ranking above the atrocious Ghost Gabber. Moments later, a faint beeping could be heard as something twirled through the air.

"They brought the freaking Boo-merang! We're doomed!" Danny shared with Sam.

 _"_ _Keep your cool! I have a great vantage point. As soon as your parents chase after you, I can nail them."_

"Perfect. Okay, here goes…"

Within seconds, the reciprocating whoosh of air and unsettlingly constant beeping approached the shop window. As soon as Danny caught its reflection in a shattered mirror across the room, he backflip-kicked the device into a streetlamp across the narrow street as he acrobatically tumbled out the window and sprinted down the street. Another blast of green flew less than millimeters away from his ear, pulling slightly at the fine hairs on his lobe as it passed.

"HOLY CRAP!" he exclaimed and risked a glance over his shoulder. Jack was barreling down the street after him, so Danny concentrated harder on running and phased through the corner of a building to change direction more quickly.

A new, weaker beeping and whooshing heralded the Boo-merang's indefatigable return to the fight. Seeing he had little other choice, the hero paused in his running and hit it with a single, clean shot. The device split in two and fell sparking to the ground.

"Yes!" Danny cheered to himself and continued running for City Hall. "Boo-merang is down, Sam!"

 _"_ _Don't get cocky! Your dad's right on your tail!"_

Sure enough, the large Fenton parent came tumbling clumsily around the corner. Danny paused once more and nailed his father right in the gut. The teen quickly dove into an alley before running for the next street.

"Where's Mom?" he asked over the telecom.

There was a hesitant pause. _"Uuummmm…"_

"Sam, where's Mom?" he demanded with heavy suspicion.

 _"_ _Okay, fine, I lost sight of her. Keep on your toes."_

"I can't run forever!" he complained with a slight pant.

 _"_ _Aw, shut up! This is life or death! Besides, it's good for your heart."_

Suddenly, his chest was oozing the same sickly green as a hit came from ahead. He dove behind a trash can for temporary cover. "Oh, God, that hurt! Well, looks like I found Mom…"

"Or did you?" came a sassy reply from down the street. Danny heard the whir of jet propulsion. The voice continued in a much more hushed tone, "I got him cornered, Mrs. Fenton. Right next to the florist."

"Huntress…" Danny hissed angrily and clutched at his burning chest. "Sam, she got me dead-on! I don't know how many more hits I can take."

 _"_ _Don't worry, I got her. Aiming… aaannnnnnd…"_

"Hurry! She's almost here!"

A single shot rang out across the town, the sound ricocheting against the battle-scarred buildings.

"AUGH!"

The Red Huntress was now even more red as the color splattered the back of her suit. She tumbled to the ground from her jet sled and sprawled out onto her back, landing only a couple yards away from Danny. He quickly stood, albeit with a slight wince, and towered over her.

"Sorry it has to end this way, Valerie."

"Wha-?"

Danny fired, and red now splattered her visor as well.

"Not the face!" she whimpered and writhed on the ground. "Aw come on, Fenton, that was uncalled for!"

"This is _war_ , Miss Grey!" Danny mercilessly shot her once more in the stomach and sprinted on, leaving his longtime nemesis laying prostrate in the road.

"Huntress is down. I'm almost there, Sam, just the plaza left!" he spoke into his comm device and ducked behind an abandoned minivan. "Cover me!"

 _"_ _Go now!"_

Danny changed back to Phantom and approached the open space, but horrifying news came over the Fenton Phones.

 _"_ _MY POSITION IS COMPROMISED!"_

"Damn it!" Danny cursed as he heard running and frantic whimpering while Sam raced to escape the wrath of Mrs. Fenton.

 _"_ _How the heck did you find me?!"_ the teen heard Sam demand as she sought cover.

 _"_ _Trick of the trade, Manson! One you apparently have yet to learn!"_ Maddie replied cockily.

"Sam do you still have that grappling gun?"

 _"_ _Yeah - *pant* - it's - *pant* - …Oh, crap."_

"What?"

 _"_ _I left it in the clock tower!"_

"Shit, where are you now?"

The noises stopped apart from distantly banging doors. _"I just took cover in the mayor's office,"_ she whispered. _"South wing, third floor."_

"Okay, jump out the window and I'll catch you."

 _"_ _You BETTER catch me!"_

"You know I will. Trust me!"

 _"_ _Fine, but only because we've lived through way worse."_

 _"_ _You can run, Sammiekins, but you can't hide!"_ Danny heard his mother declare over Sam's comm.

 _"God I hate that name._ _Okay, on my count…"_ Sam whispered. _"3…"_

Danny phased through the minivan and rocketed across the plaza.

 _"_ _2…"_

He arced through the air and headed straight for the east end of the building, erratic green blasts heralding the return of his father to the fight.

 _"_ _OhcrapNOW!"_

The world fell into a golden state of surrealism as time seemed to slow. Sam leapt, smashed through the glass window of the mayor's office, and whirled around with rifle in hand. As her body and the window fragments began to plummet, Sam let off a flurry of shots at her boyfriend's mother. The girl's black hair trailed gracefully behind and around her head, a pair of yellow goggles shielding her furious and determined eyes. The glass shards, tinkling like wind chimes, shimmered and danced around her in the setting sun.

Danny's ghostly tail stretched and rippled through the air behind him as he raced to catch Sam. The girl's rushed volley of shots managed to land a hit to Mrs. Fenton's hip, but the woman accepted the hit as she made one of her own and caught the Goth directly in the sternum just as Danny tackled her midair from the side.

As soon as the pair made contact, time restarted and they blasted away from the scene, leaving an irate Maddie in their wake. "This isn't over!" the woman shouted furiously after them with a shaken fist.

Danny flew Sam into what could have been an abandoned print shop. He set her down gently with her back to the brick outer wall just below a clouded window. He immediately inspected her chest, the girl's signature black tank soaked with thick, viscous color.

"Danny… Just go on without me," she whispered.

"I can't leave you! Not when you're hurt!"

"I'm no use. Just finish this...for us, okay? I'll be alright here till then."

Danny hesitated.

"Look, Valerie's down, your mom is hit, and there's no way your dad would know where to look for me. I'll be safe. Go, Danny. Do it for Team Phantom." She gave him a pained but encouraging smile.

Danny frowned with determination. "I'll come back for you, Sam. I promise!" he whispered. The two shared a loving smile.

 _"_ _I promise. Fear me."_

Danny paled at the female electronic voice. First the Boo-merang, and now his parents had brought…

"The Ghost Gabber," Sam whispered as their eyes both widened in fearful comprehension. Jack must have been right outside using the loathsome Ghost Gabber to pick up even on Danny's whispers. "Danny," she breathed, then shouted in panic, "RUN!"

Jack burst through the door, device in one hand, aiming wildly with the gun in the other, just as Danny passed intangibly through him. "Aha, I've got you now!"

He then saw Sam sitting with a gun pointed directly at him. The man froze.

"…Oh."

"Nothing personal, Mr. Fenton. Actually, …yeah, it's pretty personal." Sam shot repeatedly at the man's torso and thighs until he fell to the ground in a growing red puddle.

Meanwhile, Danny raced through the town searching for a reprieve from the madness. Suddenly, his Fenton Phone came to life again.

 _"_ _Danny, where's Sam?"_ Tucker asked.

"Tucker! Sam is down; I had to leave her in an old print shop. Dad ambushed us. Where have you been?!"

 _"_ _Sorry, I've been trying to locate the terminal."_

"Any luck?"

 _"_ _None so far. I'm headed to the school next."_

"Meet you there."

The pair fell into radio silence as they made their way to the ominous building across the city center. Fortunately, Tucker was much closer so he was able to arrive the same time as Phantom.

"Tuck, thank goodness!" the hero breathed as he landed. "Team Phantom is taking a beating."

"I wish they would take it easier on you! You saved the whole freaking world."

"You know that's not how this works, Tucker. They're more determined than ever." They mounted the steps into the building and went inside the dark halls. As the building had no power, the two had to rely on Danny's supernatural glow to guide their way through the maze of corridors.

"Man, too bad Jazz couldn't be here to help," Tucker sulked.

"With her aim? Are you _kidding?_ " Danny asked with a short, humorless laugh. "Mom and Dad would have taken her down in three seconds flat."

"True. Well, maybe she could have allied with them and been a double-agent? Nothing like a little friendly fire to spice up a blood feud," he suggested conspiratorially. "What's everyone else's status?"

"Valerie's down for good; I got her in the visor. Sam's hit but I think she might be able to rally. Mom took a hit but she'll _definitely_ rally. And Dad? Well...I left him at Sam's mercy," he finished with an evil chuckle.

"I am not jealous," Tucker quipped with heavy cynicism.

"This place is huge," Danny pointed out as they continued down a never-ending corridor. "How the hell are we gonna find it and end this thing already?"

"Well, I know the first place _I'd_ look: the girls' locker room."

Danny gasped in realization. "That's it!"

"Really?!"

"No." Tucker scowled while Danny continued. "The _boys'_ locker room, The _last_ place you'd look!"

"Brilliant! Let's go before your mom gets here!"

"Alright, hurry! She looked pretty pissed when I last saw her."

The two sprinted through the school until they found the room in question. The door was completely off its hinges, leaning against the bare concrete wall. A labyrinth of locker banks obscured their view. They listened carefully for movement but heard nothing.

"Okay let's go," Danny said, barely above the volume of a simple, apprehensive breath. The pair inched their way into the room with Tucker falling in step behind his friend. Row after rusting row of lockers passed them as they advanced into the room. Soon, they had almost reached the open shower area.

"OW!"

Danny whirled around and saw his friend clutch his side in pain as he slumped to the floor. Danny realized someone must have been stalking in the past row, so he dove for cover.

"It doesn't have to end this way, Mom!" Danny shouted into the growing darkness.

"Oh, but it does, sweetie!," she replied from the shadows. "All those years of lies, all those sabotaged devices and red herrings, all those DAMNED times you thought you were better and SMARTER than us…it _has_ to end like this! I _will_ be victorious! Just accept it."

Danny then spotted his salvation on the wall next to the furthest shower head. From his positioning, Danny would have to cross the wide-open space and try to avoid his mother's blasts.

His black belt-holding, quick-shooter, Navy SEAL-worthy mother's blasts.

But, it was down to him and her, and he was no quitter. Danny took a small device out of his pocket and fiddled nervously with it in his hand. Just because she was his mother didn't mean she wasn't his greatest nemesis now. He had to finish this and prove himself, to avenge Sam, to avenge Tucker, to come out of this triumphant and put his ignorant and oblivious parents in their place. He growled in righteous fury.

 _"Not on your life."_

Danny leapt from his cover and began his do-or-die flight across the room. The teen began to go intangible as he flew. But alas, it was too late.

A quick succession of blasts connected with his side, legs, and outstretched arms. He lost concentration, smashed into the wall, fell to the ground below his target, and lost hold of his device. He lay there in pain, shifting slightly to be on his back as he rested in a puddle of green fluid.

The heels of his mother's black boots echoed hauntingly against the concrete walls and white tile floor as she traversed the spartan room. Her slow pace's calm, collected nature infuriated Danny, only serving to exasperate him more in this moment of failure. He winced and opened his eyes, seeing his mother turn on a headlamp and remove her goggles so he could see his vanquisher's eyes. Danny warily glanced at the large, dried red spot on the thigh of her jumpsuit, suddenly recognizing and feeling the spots of oozing green dotting his body.

"How did you find this so fast?" he tried to ask confidently, though the pain lacing his tone destroyed any modicum of dignity he had left. "How did you find Sam?"

"Here's a little tip, ghost boy," she replied haughtily, removing something from her ear. "If you want to keep your movements and positions safe from your enemies…" She held the removed item in the light for him to see. "Don't use their custom-designed communication gear."

A Fenton Phone bounced off his chest and clicked against the tiles.

Danny shut his eyes in agonizing, humiliated failure. His mother withdrew another device from her pocket which closely resembled the one he had lost in his fall.

"I have to say, you put on a good show, Danny. Catching Sam as she leapt through a window, ambushing your father as he pursued you, positioning your girlfriend to snipe and monitor from above…

"But I told you, dear. You may have fought every day for two years and honed your skills a bit, but there's one unavoidable truth you need to remember whenever you think you're better than we are."

"Oh? And what's that?" he asked cynically.

His mother rested one boot lightly on his chest and bent down until the small white LED at her temple caused him to squint under its brightness. She then smiled an endearing yet sinister smile directly in her son's face, her vividly violet irises dancing dangerously with the luminance from his emerald green eyes.

"We're the professionals."

With those last words sending a shiver down the boy's spine, she forcefully inserted her device into the socket on the wall.

Suddenly, the entire compound was flooded with light. Indicators throughout the reconstructed city center flashed green. The stadium lighting surrounding the ten-block-square metropolis threw everything and everyone into harsh, cool-white illumination in contrast to the dying light of dusk beyond the city borders. Everything was wrecked, but the battle was finished. Red and green splatter coated the façades, streets, and scattered prop cars and trash bins.

Soon, a limping Jack appeared leaning on Sam for support. Valerie ran her fingers through her hands as she slowly walked towards the south edge of the town, helmet and visor under her dominant arm while that hand caressed her gun. The malfunctioning jet sled hung uselessly under the other arm.

 _"_ _Congratulations, Green Team! You are victorious,_ " a voice bellowed throughout the compound over a PA system. _"But Congratulations to Red Team for setting a new arena survival record! I've never seen such an involving spectacle."_

Danny groaned as his mother lent him a hand to stand up. "Well done, Danny! I was surprised by how well you did, all things considered. You showed signs of good intuition but need to work on strategy and execution."

He reluctantly took her hand and stood, dusting his suit off once upright.

"Remind me to never go paint-balling with you again."

* * *

END

* * *

Well, there you have it! I do love a good ol' bait-and-switch. You really think the Fentons would try to murder their son after he literally saved the world? Please. Maybe in another story, but not this one. I'll tell you what, it was really hard to keep the dialogue involving but vague enough to not make it sound like they fully hate each other but still maintaining the rivalry between the professionals (Huntress included) and the trio. And man, the green and red descriptions without being able to use "blood," "ectoplasm," or "paint" without lying or giving the twist away was quite the challenge as well!

As you can now understand, the "imagery" referred to in the summary was the pools of red and green fluid as well as Danny shooting Valerie in the face at point blank. It was ACTUALLY just paint and a "blinding" maneuver so Valerie couldn't see out the visor anymore, not pools of blood and ectoplasm nor murder.

I hope you enjoyed it! Do please feel free to leave feedback in a review or via private message. I love hearing from you readers! Reviews reassure both me and the other writers on here that somebody is actually reading our stuff, and it helps us write more engulfing/intriguing stories since we can gauge how people respond to our writing/writing styles.

Hiimian signing out.

P.S. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN BEING MY BETA, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. I DESPERATELY WANT ONE.


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